Flash Drive: 2018 Ford EcoSport Titanium AWD

Robust In-Car Tech, Lacks Advanced Safety Tech Drinks Fuel Like A Larger SUV Although the 2018 Ford EcoSport is new to the U.S. market, it’s not a new vehicle. The wee-size crossover SUV first emerged more than a decade ago in Brazil. The current model has been on sale around the world since 2012. Ford desperately needed a subcompact SUV to compete in a market segment that has become seismic in consumer demand and thus, the EcoSport. The subcompact segment includes the top-selling Honda HR-V, Mazda CX-3, Chevrolet Trax, Toyota CH-R, Jeep Renegade and Hyundai Kona. A well-traveled little SUV lands in America The 2018 EcoSport model is built in Romania, Brazil, Russia, China and Thailand—our car hailed from Ford of India, the first U.S.-market car to come from that country. It’s sold in S, SE, SES, and Titanium trims, with a choice between front-drive, turbo-three cylinder models and all-wheel-drive versions with an inline-four-cylinder engine. Prices start from just above $20,000, and approach $30,000 in all-wheel-drive SES editions. With a name that begins with Eco, I think it is unforgiveable that neither engine can crack 30 mpg on the highway. The EPA rates the 1.0-liter, front-wheel-drive EcoSport at 27-mpg city and 29-mpg highway; the 2.0-liter four is rated at 23 city/29 highway. Not only is that 29-mpg rating worse than every single one of the EcoSport’s four-cylinder competitors, it’s lower than the 30-mpg estimate for the larger, more powerful Ford Escape. Two Engines Offered The 2018 Ford EcoSport is one… [Read full story]